PETA gave a thousand dollars as a reward for information about the deaths of three elephants in Indonesia.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced on Tuesday (13th) that it offers one thousand dollars (approximately U.S. $2,064.00) reward for any information that enables the capture of employees of a palm plantation accused of poisoning three elephants, endangered animals in Indonesia.

"The PETA is offering a reward of 10 million rupees (just over a thousand dollars) for any help leading to the judicial prosecution of the murderers of elephants," a statement from PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).announced.

The vice president for Asian NGO, Jason Baker, commented that the animals were poisoned, as suggested by the first elements of the investigation, "they suffered a slow and atrocious death."

The decomposed bodies of three Sumatran elephants, an endangered species, were found on Saturday near Tesso Nilo National Park in Riau Province, Indonesia.

The three pachyerm specimens - two adult females and a 1-year-old baby elephant - were found dead over the weekend in the wildlife preserve surrounded by oil palm plantations in central Sumatra, The Jakarta Globe reported.

What is most probable is that the elephants were poisoned in revenge for the destruction of the huts of workers producing palm oil, park director Kupin Simbolon said.

"Those cowardly killers should be arrested and put on trial," the vice president of PETA in Asia, Jasin Baker, said in a statement.

The World Wildlife Fund, or WWF, said early this year that the Sumatran elephant is at risk of extinction during the next 30 years, its classification having gone from "endangered" to "critically endangered" due to deforestation.

The population of Sumatran elephants grows smaller every year in Indonesia due to illegal logging, oil palm plantations and other threats to their habitat. 

At least 17 elephants have died this year in the park and its surroundings, mostly for alleged poisonings, according Simbolon.

Translated from the Portuguese version by:

Lisa Karpova

• A Permanent Economic Emergency